Chapter 22
Izuku started by slamming his hand into the ground, creating a thick wall between him and Stain, allowing Izuku a bubble of time to tend to Iida and the other pro who was there. He just had to hold out until help arrived, which was probably going to be easier said than done.
"Iida, why the fuck are you trying to fight Stain?!" Izuku yelled as he knelt down at Iida's side to assess the damage, "He's called the Hero Killer for a reason!"
"Just leave, Midoriya!" Iida snapped back, "This is my battle! I need to avenge my brother!" Izuku's eye twitched.
"Dude…I could have healed your brother," Izuku stated coldly.
"Oh…" Iida replied.
"Actually, that was what I was going to offer back at the train station!"
"Oh…,"
"AND HONESTLY, YOU'RE-," Izuku barely had anytime to dodge as a knife landed right in the wall in front of him, in just the right area that if he hadn't moved, he would have likely had a knife in his throat by now.
"A true hero would never stop to yell at someone!" Stain snarled, jumping towards Izuku with an unexpected amount of speed. Izuku pressed his hand against the wall and created a pillar, aiming it at Stain who dodged it just before it hit him, landing his feet on the opposite wall and kicking towards Izuku, blade aiming for his arm. In a move Stain didn't predict, Izuku allowed his forearm to be impaled, lodging it and the blade into the wall, giving Izuku the opportunity to use his other hand to swipe at the dumbfounded Stain. He dodged, but left his katana in Izuku's arm, allowing Izuku to destroy it and repair his arm.
'Fuck, that actually hurt,' Izuku thought as he looked at Stain, who was already pulling out a second katana, 'I hope she doesn't take too long; she did say she was in Hosu tonight…right?' Izuku slapped the ground with his hand, creating spikes intending to impale Stain's arms and legs, which only nicked the man as he managed to dodge in time.
"You're quite skilled for a student," Stain growled, crouching on a balcony above them, his red eyes practically glowing in the dark, "Perhaps I misjudged your abilities…" A kunai flew down from where Stain was positioned, but this time Izuku wasn't quick enough to dodge it, and it cut his left hand. It didn't really hurt, though, so he figured he'd be fine. Stain jumped down from above, which Izuku hadn't anticipated; if you had throwing knives, why give up the high ground? As a result, he wasn't able to keep Stain from…licking his wound? Suddenly, Izuku's entire body froze up, and he crashed into the ground.
'W-What the?' Izuku mentally panicked as he realized that any form of movement was now physically impossible, 'Is this his quirk? What even…wait a second, if this is some form of paralysis, then how is it activated? Touch? Doubtful, otherwise he'd use hand-to-hand combat instead of blades. Taste? No, he'd be trying to lick Izuku that entire time. Wait, what if…it's activated by digestion of blood? That makes sense, now I think about it. He uses knives to cause wounds, and then he just has to lick them, like he did with me!'
"Now…let's get back to what I was doing before," Stain muttered, pulling out another Katana (holy shit, how many of those did he have? This was reaching bullshit levels of plot convenience!) as he approached Iida, who was still stuck on the ground, "Ending the life of another fake hero. I did tell you to leave, boy. Nobody can stop me but All Might, I won't allow it." Stain raised the rusty blade over Iida's neck, lining it up. Suddenly, Izuku faintly heard the sound of crackling electricity, and he mentally breathed a sigh of relief, 'she made it! And just in time as well.'
"Only All Might, huh?" Izuku called out, distracting the Hero Killer. Stain turned to look at him and scoffed.
"Of course, he's the only true hero, and as such I shall allow only him to kill me." Stain confirmed. Izuku grinned, even if Stain couldn't see it.
"Then surely his successor would be good enough, right?" Before Stain could even ask what he meant, a blur of cyan and ginger sped past them, kicking Stain in the chest, and flinging him back into the alleyway.
"It's alright. Why? Because we are here!" Kendo announced, as Miruko landed beside her, grumbling about how Kendo stole her moment.
"Not gonna lie, Itsuka, that sounds a lot more badass coming from All Might for some reason." Izuku snarked.
"Yeah, this brat's got a point, the big man's quote only works if it's his voice." Miruko added. Kendo groaned and slumped slightly.
"I'm working on it, okay! Now, can we deal with this serial killer?" Kendo cried. The mood instantly switched back to one of urgency, further exacerbated by the kunai which flung towards Kendo, barely missing. Iida let out a sob of annoyance.
"This is my fight! Just go!" He yelled.
"YOUR FIGHT MY ASS!" Miruko yelled, startling Iida, "FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, YOU GOT YOUR ASS BEAT BY SOME TWO-BIT SHITTY VILLAIN AND WOULD HAVE DIED IF THAT BRAT OR US HADN'T COME! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET US HANDLE IT, OKAY?" Before Iida could respond, Miruko jumped forward with Kendo, engaging Stain.
"Don't let him cut you!" Izuku yelled as loud as he could, "I'm pretty sure his quirk paralyzes you by ingesting blood!"
"If I had a yen for every person today that's figured that out, I'd have two yen, which isn't a lot, but it's weird it's happened twice." Stain commented, flipping behind Kendo and Miruko as he attempted to slash at them. Miruko, for all intents and purposes, wasn't in a good environment; she worked best in large, open spaces, and generally stayed away from alley fights. Kendo, meanwhile, was the opposite, working well in enclosed spaces and, while still good in the conditions, was notably not as good at open area battles. Stain seemed to balance the two out, being an expert at small spaces and presumably horrible in any open spaces.
"I can't hit him!" Miruko yelled, letting out a ruthless torrent of kicks. If only Izuku could help! His quirk would be perfect for catching Stain off guard, and his fingers were literally twitching to use his quirk.
Wait a minute.
His fingers were moving?
He tested again, and sure enough his fingers were able to move, and soon his hands were as well.
"Iida, can you move yet?" Izuku asked as his arms slowly regained mobility.
"No, why?" Iida replied. Izuku hummed.
"Weird, because I can move just fine. Maybe it's not a set time limit?" Izuku suggested. He began theorizing more about Stain's quirk. Maybe the time was decided by blood type or body size? Either made sense, as Iida and the other hero were way bigger than Izuku, and while he couldn't test blood types, O was considered the first blood type alphabetically (for some reason), so it was reasonable to assume that gave him priority in the list.
Once Izuku's body could finally move again, he made a pillar shoot out in front of Stain, which forced him to leap beside it, continuing his fight with Miruko and Kendo. Seeing that Stain was distracted, however, Izuku decided to check on Iida.
"Are you hurt?" Izuku asked. Iida grunted.
"Yeah, my arm really hurts." Iida replied.
"Let that be a reminder to not chase homicidal maniacs." Izuku stated coldly as he repaired Iida's wound, eliciting a yelp of pain from the boy as his arm and shoulder were swiftly broken down and repaired in an instant. Izuku then moved onto the other hero, who was barely conscious.
"You good, man?" Izuku asked.
"I think I have a phobia of dark alleyways now." They replied simply. Izuku nodded in understanding before healing him as well, and the hero cried out in pain far quieter than Iida did. With both casualties handled, Izuku turned his attention to the fight, only to see Miruko collapse to the ground as Stain licked a knife mid-air. Quickly, Izuku slammed a hand onto the ground, creating a wall between Miruko and Stain, allowing Kendo to keep her full attention on him.
"Supermove: Jaw Jammer!" Kendo exclaimed, aiming a fist towards Stain's jaw. Stain, naturally, moved to block it with his arms, leaving his lower body exposed. One of Kendo's legs rocketed upwards, kicking Stain right in the family jewels. The man let out a strangled cry of pain as he flew up into the air, and Kendo crouched down on the ground before jumping after him. Izuku, sensing the battle was coming to a close, lowered the wall protecting Miruko and rushed over to her.
"Are you okay?" Izuku asked, checking over her for any injuries.
"I feel like shit, and he cut my thigh, but apart from that I'm pretty fucking dandy." Miruko grunted. Izuku nodded and subconsciously moved his hand but froze as he realized where he was putting it.
"Uh, M-Miruko-San?" Izuku stammered, face blushing, "I-I'm going to have to t-touch your t-t-thigh to heal you, i-is that okay?" Miruko laughed loudly for a moment, and Izuku was sure that if she were able to move that she would be bent over and slapping her knee as well.
"Damn, kid, aren't you a gentleman!" She teased, making Izuku blush even redder, "But nah, don't worry about it, I doubt you'd try anything. And if you did, I would RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AS SOON AS I WAS UNPARALYZED!" Izuku wasn't prepared for her to begin yelling, but he nodded anyways and tapped Miruko's thigh, healing it.
It was surprisingly so-
No! Bad Izuku!
A crash from behind informed them that someone had landed, and when Izuku looked back he could see that Stain was on the ground and unmoving, while Kendo was panting while she kept her knee on top of it. Miruko was just starting to be able to move again, and she lifted her head to see the aftermath of the battle.
"Kid, say something cool!" Miruko shouted, sounding excited.
"Uh, that's the way the cookie crumbles!" Kendo declared, striking a pose. Miruko's head slumped to the ground.
"We'll work on that later," She mumbled, "Anyways, you got the son of a bitch?" Kendo held up Stain, showing that he was definitely knocked out. Miruko breathed a sigh of relief, stumbling to her feet. And now Izuku looked, he could see Iida was beginning to stand as well, "Good. That went surprisingly well, but I won't complain." Kendo dragged Stain to the side, leaning him against the wall. Izuku approached Kendo and looked at her, slightly confused.
"So…what the hell was that supermove?" Izuku asked. Kendo smiled sheepishly and fiddled with her hair, refusing to meet Izuku's eyes.
"Well, uh, Miruko taught me that a good way to catch a villain off guard is to mislabel your Supermoves. Y'know, say you're doing a Colossal Cock Kick and then actually do an uppercut to their jaw? Something like that." Kendo explained. Izuku sighed, realizing he would now have to deal with this in the future. Finally, Iida stood up and walked over to them.
"I…thank you," He stated, bowing in embarrassment, "After what you all said, I've realized my actions were…less than heroic."
"They were stupid!" Miruko commented, standing further away as she began to make a call. Iida cringed and rubbed the back of his hair.
"Er, yes, that as well. But Midoriya, if you were telling the truth back then of how you wanted to heal my brother, do you reckon we can go there as soon as possible? I'm sure he'd love to hear about how you and Kendo beat Stain!"
"If the Pussycats allow it, then I'll come," Izuku replied, looking out to the street as he took note of the now less-evident smell of smoke, "But I'm not sure if they'll be happy with me after I-," They all froze as they heard the sound. It sounded like something was being taken out of some gooey liquid slowly and carefully. As they looked for the source, they soon found it in the form of somebody taking something out of Stain. They had long white hair and seemed to be a girl if the curves signified anything. They were wearing a black hoodie and leggings with purple accents, and a surgical mask with the same colour scheme was covering their lower face as well. Their hand closest to Stain's face was covered in a weird white slime and was pulling a disc-like object from Stain's face. She soon noticed that they were looking at her, and she looked at them, a smirk in her eyes.
"Thanks for taking this guy out!" She cheered, catching Miruko's attention now as she whipped around from where she was standing, "I always wanted this quirk for myself! Anyways, I gotta go! Hopefully I can get to know your quirks better some other time!" And with that, the mystery girl was off, running at faster-than-average speeds. Immediately, Miruko, Iida, and Kendo began charging after her, leaving Izuku to check on Stain's body. Although it was beginning to mend itself into a seamless wound, on his face Izuku could spot a weird gap, inside of which he could only see darkness. Just what the hell had that girl done?
"Argh! She's getting away!" Miruko growled as they ran around another corner. Kendo and Iida managed to keep up with her thanks to their enhanced speed quirks, but the person they were chasing just seemed to be getting further and further away.
"Come on, big brother, we gotta escape them!" She called to seemingly nobody. Did she have some kind of accomplice as well with her? By the sounds of it, they were family, but who knows? Miruko was well aware of those fucking weirdos who call anyone their 'big brother' or 'little sister,' so it could also be one of those.
"Oh! That's a good idea, bro, I haven't used that quirk in a while!" Miruko realized that the voice was getting closer, and she mentally cheered. Two villains at once? Especially one who seemed be able to steal quirks? Hell, this might just catapult her to the Number 3 spot if she was lucky! Finally, the three of them rounded the corner, only to find-
"A dead end? Impossible!" Iida despaired as Kendo looked around. She jumped up high to check the rooftops, but when she came back down, she shrugged.
"Nothing. She's gone without a trace." Kendo explained. Miruko angrily kicked a rubbish bin. How the fuck had they lost her, they were right behind her? And now she thought about it, how could she steal quirks? Wait, hadn't she been extracting something from the Hero Killer before they started chasing her? Miruko's face paled as she realized what might have happened.
"We have to get back to the kid, now!" She ordered. Iida and Kendo looked back at her in surprise, but when she began hopping over rooftops to get back even faster, they didn't hesitate to start running back either. The entire way back to Stain and Izuku, Miruko could only scowl as she thought about what had happened that night. Sure, they'd captured Stain, but how would Japan react when they found out his quirk had been stolen, and while he was surrounded by three heroes-in-training and two fully trained heroes, one of which being the Number 6 Hero?
For once, Miruko hoped the HPSC would cover something up.
"Can you let me go?" Stain asked politely from within the mound he was buried in. He'd regained consciousness faster than Izuku had expected, but by the time he had opened his eyes he was already trapped thankfully. Izuku sat on a makeshift stool made with his quirk as he waited for the others to come back.
"No, but I appreciate the politeness." Izuku replied, chin in his hand. He still had no idea who the girl was. Hopefully Miruko apprehended her, but as Izuku had noted earlier, alleys weren't Miruko's ideal battleground, so it wasn't too crazy to imagine that the villain had escaped.
"So…seeing as there's no plausible escape route, why do you want to be a hero, boy?" Stain questioned. When the man wasn't attempting to kill someone, he was oddly polite. Still didn't change the fact he'd murdered, like, thirty heroes. Izuku hummed as he looked at Stain, whose red eyes, while still looking aggressive, had slightly lost their manic gleam to them. And dare Izuku say it, had lost its gleam all together, as if he'd lost something.
"I suppose…I want people to understand a great hero can come from anywhere, and that we shouldn't judge someone based on where they live or their relations or their quirk status. It just gets in the way of so many people's dreams and aspirations in life, and all because of some stupid reasons! I mean, just look at Napoleon from revolutionary France. If it had not been for amazing circumstances, the greatest conqueror of France would have never even been recognized! So, imagine how many great heroes would rise up if we judged people on their personality rather than superficial things." Izuku recited confidently, getting more enthusiastic with every sentence, and Stain lapped it up, eyes gaining something close to admiration in them.
"Perhaps hero society is not doomed after all." Stain muttered. Suddenly, Miruko, Kendo, and Iida arrived, all in differing states. Miruko looked worried and disgruntled, Kendo seemed to be contemplative, and Iida was confused. Miruko walked up to Stain's head and looked down at him.
"Your quirk paralyzes somebody if you drink their blood, right?" Miruko asked. Stain grunted in response, which Miruko took as a yes. She bit into her hand and offered it to Stain, "Try it, I wanna see something." Stain rolled his eyes and licked, but his eyes widened as nothing happened to Miruko. He licked again and again until Miruko pulled her hand away, but nothing close to paralysis happened.
"Where's my quirk?" Stain questioned incredulously, "This should be working!" Miruko hummed and sighed, putting her head in her hands.
"Great, so that villain can steal quirks. Great! Just what Japan needed!" Miruko groaned, kicking a conveniently placed trash can. Footsteps could be heard coming down the alleyway, and soon enough a small army of police officers had arrived, and when Izuku released Stain (after he had been knocked out again) they put him in cuffs and carried him away.
"Thank you, Miruko-San," one officer said, who seemed to be a leader, "Japan will be thankful for this for a long time." And with that he was gone.
"So…what now?" Iida asked. This seemed to be Miruko's limit, and she snapped as she turned to face Iida.
"FIRST OF ALL, WE WILL BE GOING TO A HOSPITAL! YES, THE MIDORIYA BRAT CAN HEAL, BUT IT'S MANDATORY THAT YOU GET A CHECK-UP ANYWAYS! THEN I'M GONNA GET WHOEVER YOUR DAMN SUPERVISOR IS AND GET THEM TO KICK YOU UP THE ASS! THEN I'M GONNA GO OVER TO RYUKYU'S WHILE YOU'RE ALL IN THE HOSPITAL! THEN YOUR INTERNSHIPS, YES, YOU AND MIDORIYA'S INTERNSHIPS, WILL MOST LIKELY BE CANCELLED DUE TO VIGILANTISM! IS THAT CLEAR?!"
"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Iida squeaked. There was silence as they walked back into the street, but then Kendo had to open her damn mouth.
"Wait, you visit Ryukyu?"
"I'LL END YOU!"
"This isn't going well…" Shigaraki muttered, scratching his neck, "This isn't going well at all!" The scratching intensified as he looked at the destruction. Or, more accurately, the lack of destruction. It had turned out that out of all the cities, Endeavour had chosen to patrol in Hosu tonight. The Nomu were no match for his flames, even the big one that Doctor Ujiko had taken to calling 'USJ's Cousin.' Kai sometimes questioned the sanity of the short old man, but he could never doubt his genius, so he let it slide. For now.
Although, now he'd seen it, Kai decided to leave a mental note to himself to add flame absorption or some other similar quirk that would negate Endeavour's quirk for the high-end Nomu. Just in case they crossed paths post its completion.
"Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri started, warping beside Shigaraki, "It would seem that all Nomu but Wings have been terminated. I would suggest a retreat now considering the loss of most of our forces." Kai agreed with Kurogiri's assessment, as there was no reason to stay now that their main fighters were dead; Wings was only a support Nomu, not an attack Nomu. However, Shigaraki wasn't listening, and his scratching had completely ceased, an aura of pure rage surrounding Shigaraki. Kai raised an eyebrow at this, but when he looked down at the streets below for a few seconds he saw some recognizable faces such as the Wild, Wild Pussycats (who looked oddly morose), Endeavour, Miruko, Native, that ice boy from the USJ, and a couple other UA Students. But the most important one there to both Kai and Shigaraki was almost certainly the green haired boy in a black-and-sea green outfit with a voluminous sea-green fur collar.
"Kurogiri…you said that Wings was still active, right?" Shigaraki asked in a dangerously calm voice. At Kurogiri's affirmation that Wings was still active, Shigaraki hummed, "Good, good. Make it bring that green haired brat to me, I need to get even with that noob who just got lucky." Kurogiri warped away, most likely to give the order to the Nomu in question. As Kai looked at Shigaraki, he could just tell he was grinning under that disgusting hand.
"How does that saying go? An eye for an eye? Well, I'll be applying it to this fucking brat's arm!"
"This is incredibly awkward." Kendo stated redundantly as Endeavour glared at her and Izuku, who was currently smiling nervously. Kyōsaku was standing a bit away from Endeavour (although it seemed to be less because he disliked the man and more because he couldn't handle heat well) and was expressionless...although his eyes were narrowed suspiciously at Izuku, for some reason.
"So, Miruko, how the hell did you beat Stain?" Endeavour grunted, deciding it would be best to act as if he, Kendo and Izuku had never met before. Miruko showed no gusto or smugness, her attitude dampened by her apparent annoyance at having to deal with the number 2 hero.
"I told ya, I saw tin can here and his friend getting attacked and stepped in to help." Miruko explained, jerking a thumb at Iida and Izuku. They had all decided to say that Miruko had beaten Stain, as they didn't want to risk getting arrested or something for-
"Actually, it was a joint effort of the girl with orange hair and that boy with green hair along with the number 6 hero," Stain interrupted, "Although I beat Miruko and would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for the others and maybe that other fucking villain who stole my quirk." Everyone was silent. Miruko, Kendo, Izuku, Iida and Native all turned their heads to glare at the serial killer in question, who had basically given up on any resistance and was just calmly sitting there.
"Dude…uncool." Izuku stated, which the other four were in agreement with. Endeavour's flames flared up, and Kyōsaku's eyes widened in surprise. The other heroes present shared similar reactions with Kyōsaku, and muttering took place. And really, who could blame them? The deadliest serial killer in recent memory had been beaten not by the number 6 hero, but by a couple of students? It was utterly unthinkable, but there was no way Stain was lying because, well, why would he lie about something like this?
Suddenly, Kendo put a hand to her head and spun around.
"There's a Nomu! A flying one!" She yelled. However, before anyone else could react, the winged Nomu had already sunk its talons into Izuku, flying away with him. Izuku flailed his arms around in an attempt to reach the Nomu, but it's talons had pierced his shoulders in such a way that he couldn't lift them that much at all.
"W-What!?" The heroes on the ground yelled as they chased after him. Kyōsaku began creating copious amounts of mist around his bottom half, and as he jumped upwards, he created platforms of ice to jump off of quickly before they fell and shattered, but it wasn't quick enough. Noticeably enough, Endeavour seemed to be lagging behind. Sure, you could attribute it to exhaustion, but Endeavour always put in his 200%, as much as Kendo hated to admit it, so why was he barely trying?
Deep down, Kendo knew why, but she refused to acknowledge the idea that even a man as cold as Endeavour would allow someone to die just because he didn't like them.
To everyone's surprise, it was not Kendo, Miruko or any other present hero that rescued Izuku. No, it was a red line that seemed to shoot through the air and pierce through the Nomu's brain a thousand times before carrying Izuku back to the ground. This red line widened, revealing the masked face of Edgeshot, the number 5 hero. Izuku stumbled to his feet as he landed, and even from a distance Kendo could hear him utter out a stream of appreciations to the man. And in the distance, she could spot the split-colored hair of Todoroki, trying to hide from his father most likely.
"Well, hopefully that's as bad as it gets tonight…" Kendo muttered to herself as she went to help Midoriya.
She hoped she hadn't jinxed them all by thinking that…
EXTRA
Mitsudo casually opened the door to the Eraserhead Agency (it was actually just Aizawa's apartment but whatever), ready for another night of heroics with his idol and hero. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for said idol and hero to be slumped over his bench and chain drinking beer with a manic frenzy.
"Sensei? A-Are you okay?" Mitsudo asked, nervously stepping forwards. Aizawa, seemingly only just now noticing Mitsudo was there, whipped around to look at him with droopy, annoyed eyes.
"I can't fuck'n take it no more Misudo!" Aizawa slurred, chugging another beer, "I looks away for all of 5 minutes, and was do they kids gets up to? Theys be fucking fighting serial killers in- hic- dark fuck'n alleys!" Aizawa punctuated this statement with another beer, which he violently slammed onto the bench once it was empty, "Jus can't fuck'n take dis shit anmore!"
It was at this point Mitsudo decided to take the day off, silently leaving Aizawa to rant to himself. Maybe he'd go and read that new book he got on Byzantine History. Yeah, that sounded preferable to whatever hell was occurring in Aizawa's world.